Chapter Four

A/N: Thank you to NanLikesEmmie-Bear, Christine Eponine, Eponine Jondrette, PhantomFandom and xjazzxhottyx, as always, for reviewing.

In the streets of the higher end of Paris, as the moon sat above in the sky, a twinkling bell sounded through the silence of the twilight, as the books' emporium on Rue de la Jardin shut up shop at long last.

The silver key broke the silence once more as the lock clicked, and the metal tinged slightly as the shop assistant pocketed it, pulling out a pale handkerchief as he did so, to wipe the escaped tears from his leaking eyes.

It had only been seven nights now since the fall of the barricade on Rue de Villette, seven nights since all his friends had fallen, and seven nights since his life had changed forever. Despite all of the time that had passed, Marius Pontmercy could not forget.

The plot of the barricade had been the young man's life for so many months, all that he had thought of, other than his studies and most recently, Cosette.

As he thought of the blonde woman, another feeling appeared in his mind. For some reason, one which Marius did not have a clue about, whenever he was around his dear Cosette, he felt as he would if committing a crime, as if he were terribly hurting someone. Then he realised. He was.

For years and years on end, Éponine had stood at his side, comforting and supporting him without a single word of complaint. She had been his rock in times of trouble, his cheerer when life had become tiresome and his protector against the violent acts of the Patron-Minette. Yet somehow, in all of that time, he had hardly cast the girl a second glance. She was his friend, of course, but that was all.

'Why was that all?' Marius asked himself, the question occurring to him all of a sudden, as he began the walk to the place he still called a sanctuary. 'It was utterly obvious by the end that she loved me with all her heart, so why did I never feel the same?'

Marius tore his mind from the thoughts as he crossed the empty threshold of the Café Musain. Even after seven nights, a few of the bodies from the barricades still remained. The ones who had been disowned for their involvement in the revolution, the ones whose only friends had died alongside them, and the ones who had no family left to go to, like 'Ponine.

The sparse bodies were littered across the floor, no furniture remaining for them to rest on, a pitiful sight to behold. Enjorlas, Grantaire and Courfeyrac lay with their heads against the wall, as they had been left all those days ago. Gavroche was a fair few feet away, lying not far from the door. But Éponine, who had lain beside her younger brother, her hand clutching at his, was the one that caught Marius' attention once again, causing him to gasp and exit the place. The space where Éponine had lain was empty.

It took barely a moment for the young man to bolt from the room, sprinting as fast as he could have done back along Rue de Villette, only pausing when he reached the end of the street, where the end forked into three pathways, only one of which was familiar to Marius. So, that was the path that he took.

The street was dimly lit, so that shadows danced spectrally in the flickering of the flames. Even in the darkness, the young student could see the buildings he had become accustomed to seeing over the years, when the street had led to the one he had used to call his home. Before the barricades, that was. Now, he had no home at all.

After just a few more moments of walking, looking over his shoulder for every other, Marius finally saw the place he had been looking for. The place where he had once lived. The Gorbeau building.

However, as he reached out his hand for the door handle, preparing to enter the fearful tenancy once more, the young man paused, still and silent. Between the harsh night's breeze, the laughter, the cries and the sound of robberies in the Paris air, he heard something else. This was utterly different to it all. The sound was a song.

Turning once again, so as to follow the tune, Marius found that, though he could hardly remember from where, he recognised the melody of the song.

As he drew closer to the source of the sound, his feet spurring him faster to his destination with every step he took. The voice was louder now, and was stirring a memory deep within him, not only with the tune, but with the voice itself as well. 'I recognise it now.' Marius thought, his breathing rapidly increasing from the pace he walked at. 'I am not sure where from, or how I know it, but I do, and that is all that matters.'

Due to this pace, the student was stood at the corner of the adjacent street in seconds. From the spot where he leant against the wall, panting in an attempt to catch his breath, Marius could hear the sextet of words that were sung with utter clarity.

Find me now, find me here.

'I could've sworn that I have heard those words before.' he told himself, wracking his brains for the answer to his question. Although that answer did not come, another one did. He may not have been able to place the words, but the voice… that he most certainly could recognise.

Seemingly not caring that the situation was utterly impossible, Marius sprinted around the corner, dropping to his knees beside the body that lay against the paving stones. With patched trousers, time worn boots and a torn, blood stained shirt, her dark, untamed hair covering her surely bruise covered face, the woman was instantly recognisable to the young bourgeois man, who near cried out in shock at the sight of his old friend reduced to so little.

"Oh, 'Ponine."

A/N: So she has been found! Watch out though, it isn't going to be plain sailing. Please review for next chapter!